Monthly Archives: March 2019

Many job assignments back, I had a staff
member who was always complaining (just like the Pharisees and the scribes in
the past days Gospel readings) with just anything. He complains about his
workmates, his relationships with friends, and some other departments in the
company. You almost can’t hear anything positive from him. He’s one person who
you avoid because you worry to be enveloped by the negativity in his attitude.
The difficulty for me then was that he was already advance in age and I knew I have
little influence in him. He retired years after that and the last time I know
is that he has settled back in the province and hopefully, with age (and
maturity) he has become wiser and better of having a life of positivity and
good vibes.

The Gospel (Lk. 13: 1-9) in this Third
Sunday Lent, the people were quite fixed on the appropriate Jewish way of
preparing the sacrifices for Yahweh. They had the notion that people die
gruesome deaths because of their sins. And so, they complained that Pilate
mixed the blood of those people with the blood of their sacrifices so that they
thought these offerings were tainted with sins of those people.

Jesus said to them in reply,

“Do you think that because these
Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other
Galileans? By no means!”

Jesus used it as an opportunity to tell
them about the importance of repenting and reforming their lives. He warned
that

“But
I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”

The Lord’s message is now clearer and
more stern in His warning, that death will come to those who remain to wallow
in sin and indifference to the faith. Jesus feels that people are still hardheaded
and choose darkness over the light. The present over Heaven. And the same
attitude is prevailing in the world today. Some politicians remain corrupt and
crooked, some people choose the easier life, some take detours to enjoy the
dazzling ways of the world, as if there’s no tomorrow and thinking that life
here on earth is permanent. The risks and the anxieties surrounding that kind
of life is real. Who can even tell that the unexpected happens and you suddenly
die and for sure you will go to a place nobody-likes-to-go and suffer eternal
damnation! It’s real and it’s true! Hell is terrifying and just the thought of
it makes me tremble in fear.

If you follow and please God in your
life, you can be at peace and ready at any time without big time worrying. You
will be calmer and trustful of how the Lord will judge you because you have
tried consistently to stay the course. But it is not a reason to rejoice and be
complacent because you still need to remain humble and grounded. Actually, the
more you think and reflect on this, you will realize that you aren’t worthy
even of being in the Lord’s presence. You will feel the filth, the garbage, and
the smell that your sins bring to your soul. So again, the Lord is inviting all
of us to take His message to heart:

“…if
you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”

St. Paul wrote aptly in the Second
Reading (1 Cor. 10: 1-6, 10-12):

“These
things happened as examples for us,
so that we might not desire evil things, as they did.
Do not grumble as some of them did,
and suffered death by the destroyer.
These things happened to them as an example,
and they have been written down as a warning to us,
upon whom the end of the ages has come.
Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure
should take care not to fall.”

Our mission then is to live our lives in
ways that please God and not man. Stay the course. In doing so, we avoid
getting into the fates of those who perished before us.

Let us pray that we be mindful that our
lives be pleasing to God not only in these Lenten season but at all times. Let
us pray that the Lord pardon us of our repented sins, and that we remain
steadfast in our faith.

When I was young boy one of the lessons
I learned from my elders is to hear and to listen. Every time I fail to listen
they would ask me, “Didn’t you listen to what I told you? Alan, remember this:
always pay attention to what we are saying.” Now it’s my turn to remind my
people to listen to what I’m saying. I also tell them that whenever our
superiors ask us something, we sort of “drop” (figuratively) what we are doing
and do what has been requested of us. What our superiors ask us to do is
important, so it makes sense to re-arrange priorities and do it.

In the Gospel (Lk. 9: 28b-36), “Jesus
took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray…” While he
was praying, the Transfiguration happened: His face changed in appearance and
His clothing became dazzling white. Two men (prophets actually) were conversing
with Him, Moses and Elijah. Peter and his companions had been overcome by
sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men
standing with Him. He suggested to the Lord for them to make three tents, one
for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. While
he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and
they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a
voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to Him.”

I could imagine the way the voice of God
the Father echoed and reverberated in the mountains that day. Forceful and
directing to the Apostles and to us today, “This
is my chosen Son, listen to Him.” We have been “ordered” by the Creator to
listen, and not to ignore. In living as an “ordinary” human in those times, Jesus
healed the sick from various illnesses, drove off evil spirits and performed other
miracles. Most of them were looking at the Messiah as one who will come in
majesty and splendor. They wanted Him to be coming to liberate them from
oppression in the literal sense of the word. But it’s not meant by the Father
to be that way. As it was before, so it is now: He speaks to us in ways that
our human eyes can’t see.

I know this because when we become
mindful of what’s happening around us, we can actually feel the hand and
movements of God. Sometimes the events that are happening are telling us things
that we only have to be thankful for the lessons and grateful for the insights
these bring to us. At times, He speaks through ordinary people that we
encounter: the security guard at the mall, the cleaner at the yard, or the
attendant at the gas station.

A few months back I watched Noah in
Netflix, the adaptation of the biblical story. Many were disappointed that it
veered away from the biblical version but what struck me the most in the movie was
how the Creator gave instructions to Noah. To avoid being anticlimactic to
those who haven’t seen it yet, suffice it to say that the way the Creator gave
the instructions was different from how it was described in the Holy Book such
that if Noah wasn’t spiritual he wouldn’t have recognized God’s message to him.
It’s the same with us, God wouldn’t appear to us just like how He did to His
chosen ones, but if we are to read, see and listen to Him, we have to build on
the faith that we have. He speaks in ordinary ways but which aren’t obvious to
those who are blind to the ways of faith. God wants us to gaze deeply despite
the seeming “ordinariness” of each day. Each person we meet and each event that
happens should enable us to see the hand of God. It shouldn’t matter to the
faithful if that event is something positive, as it could also be negative. In the low moments of life, as faithful
followers of Christ, we have to rise above the challenges and work with faith
in addressing these. We do what we can, and trust that the Lord will bless our
efforts with Divine approval and success.

As we observe this Second Sunday of
Lent, let us work on improving how we walk our faith. Do you listen to what God
is saying in the “ordinariness” of each passing day? Are you patient and
persevering despite challenges coming your way? Rise above these concerns,
because the Lord is with you all the way. Have faith!

When saying the Lord’s Prayer, I always
feel the importance of the phrase “Do not
lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Such fear is founded on
the realization that we are weak and need strength and courage from the Spirit
to resist temptations and avoid falling into sin. That is why we should always
reserve judgment on other people as Jesus has emphasized, because we may also
fall into the same situation. It is also important to realize that the evil one
has also adjusted the way he lures people into sin: he allows them to be in
their comfort zones, pamper them with wealth and comfort in order for them to
become complacent and unmindful of others in the community who are in need of
help and support. They become lukewarm, they are only concerned on their own
welfare and security. “Never mind the neighbors and others, we have our own
lives to live”, they say. Without realizing it you may be in such a situation.
You may never know that in exchange for the comfort and seemingly safe
conditions you are in, your soul is already on the verge of decay and death.

In the Gospel today (Lk. 4: 1-13), Jesus
proved His strength over evil when He was able to resist all the kinds of
temptations that the devil offered to Him. He uttered the famous phrases “One
does not live on bread alone“,
“You shall worship the Lord, your God, and Him alone shall you
serve” and to prove
that God reigns above all, “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to
the test.” The Lord wants you
to realize that the things the devil offered Him or will be offering you
are not the most important or the most relevant in life. The evil one will be
sugarcoating it with attractive options too hard for you to resist.

The Scriptures offer us a glimpse of the
Spirituality that we have to develop if we are to grow in faith. We are
reminded on what things matter the most and that God will provide for our
material needs. In our faith response, we trust that God will be faithful (He
always is) and thus we worship Him alone and no other.

The challenge though is you will find it
really difficult to discern which events in life are important in your life
journey and not lead you elsewhere. Just very recently a brother in the faith
shared with me the struggles in his new assignment, as health and anxieties
came along with it. The job may look better but there is certainly an exchange
for something that he loves or cares about. Looking at it in the context of
today, it may be a subtle temptation that has to be dealt with. But then again,
we never know, so we have to “pray without
ceasing”. He’s contemplating of leaving and as I offered prayers told him,
“… God is working on it now. He’ll answer these (your) prayers.” Praying will
enable you to see clearly beyond the cloudiness in the horizon.

As we observe this First Sunday of Lent,
let us pray fervently the Lord’s prayer, so that the Almighty God grant us the
grace to see temptation in its cunning forms. May His Spirit give us the wisdom
to discern on things that matter the most, that God provides for all our needs,
and He’s faithful on His promises. This should be more than enough for us to
believe and trust in Him.

The Gospel this Sunday (Lk. 6: 39-45)
continues from the previous week where Jesus now talks about self-righteousness
and humility:

“Why
do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?”

The Lord is reminding us to look at
ourselves first before making judgments on others. This is because we don’t
even know what’s going on with the other person’s life thus we ought to
exercise self-restraint. The best thing to do is to pray for the other person’s
ability to see his weakness while looking inwards to see our own shortcomings.

Looking at our own faults require
humility and discernment as there are times we fail in looking at ourselves
clearly that’s why we have to listen to others’ feedbacks and comments. It
takes a lot of humility and courage to listen to what is being said of us. The value
of family and real friends — people who only have our best interests at heart
— come into focus as we engage them to be the sounding board of inner
reflection. On the other hand, whenever you ignore constructive feedback and react
to it negatively, you show something that tells of this pride and arrogance, as
said by the prophet Sirach in the First Reading (Sir. 27: 4-7):

“When
a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks.”

When you choose to ignore your family
and friends’ comments, you fail to acknowledge your own defects and instead show
your readiness to see the defects of others. That’s what is being a hypocrite
as Jesus said in today’s Word. Thus, it takes humility and courage because it
also takes strength to accept and face the need to change, sometimes painfully
as there is a need to imbibe new habits and even choking back your pride.

If you are spiritual and prayerful,
there’s always ease in discerning what’s close to Jesus as you already feel how
He would want you to handle the situation. Developing that prayerful attitude
allows you to become one with nature and with God, thus in sync with what is
Divine. Sometimes His message just comes from the least expected of persons:
the parking lot security guard, the front desk clerk, the office cleaner and
anybody you don’t notice easily. Being mindful of what’s happening around helps
you to identify what nature and events are saying at that particular moment.

It isn’t easy but St. Paul in the Second
Reading (1 Cor. 15: 54-58) is encouraging and reminding of God’s promise that what
you’re doing for the Lord will not be useless:

“Therefore,
my beloved brothers and sisters,
be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord,
knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

Let us pray that the Lord grant us the
grace to be humble to see our own weaknesses and ask Him for courage and
strength to change to become better versions of our own selves.

May the Lamb who willingly obeyed the
Father bless us as we do His will here on earth.

CBCP-ECY

I think the seminar is very useful in our everyday lives. The points that were emphasized are inspirational and opened my mind to a different and deeper perspective in life. Every institution should be able to attend this kind of seminar.